IT infrastructure is central to Oregon State's core functions: teaching, research, and administration. The managers of that infrastructure are distributed in IS and other academic and administrative units across campus, and most of them focus on just one or two of the core functions. As a result, decisions sometimes are made in one sphere without sufficient consideration to problems or issues associated with the other two. Recognizing that this led to needless misunderstandings in the past,
the IT Coordination Committee (ITCC) was established as a vehicle for improving campus-wide coordination and collaboration.
In particular, the ITCC responds to four observations:
- We have many talented and dedicated IT professionals campus-wide. Regular interactions at the level of IT directors helps ensure that IT staff at all levels share their technical expertise.
- Some (though not all) IT tools and products span teaching, research, and administrative functions. Coordination and collaboration at the level of IT directors makes it possible to leverage potential savings across the three.
- User needs should drive technology, but technology can also expand or redefine user opportunities. Sharing experiences and planning activities among IT directors helps achieve the right balance between dog and tail.
- Like other state institutions, we face limited resources and pressing needs. Sharing common problems and best-practice solutions helps all IT directors be more forward-thinking as well as more cost-effective.
Mission: The ITCC provides a forum for sharing information among units responsible for deploying and maintaining campus IT infrastructure. It offers a vehicle for identifying opportunities for collaboration, and serves as a conduit of information to/from the DCAs, Deans, and upper Adminsitration.
The ITCC is not a policy-making group, although it makes recommendations on procedures or policies to the appropriate University authorities. Nor is it directly responsible for implementation, although individual ITCC members oversee implementation efforts in their own units.
Membership and Activities: The ITCC consists of the Directors of campus units involved in deploying and maintaining IT infrastructure, including IS, appropriate groups within the University Administration, and all Colleges that provide their own IT infrastructure, and the Chair of the Faculty Senate Computing Resources Committee.
The ITCC engages in the following activities:
- Identify major campus-level IT issues, problems, and opportunities in consultation with various college Computing Committees, groups within the central administration, the DCAs, and CRC.
- Develop proposals for addressing such issues, identifying and evaluating alternative approaches (including costs, issues of user support/training, and effectiveness evaluation).
- Submit proposals for review and approval to IS V-P, President's Cabinet, Dean's Council, and/or Strategic Computing Deans as appropriate.
- Coordinate implementation of the selected options across campus including attention to user support/training and product/system evaluation.
- Form and manage Working Groups as needed to develop, implement, and evaluate specific technical solutions proposed or approved for specific problems. Such Working Groups will include participation from college Computing Committees, groups within the central administration, DCAs, CRC, etc. as appropriate.
